Analysis of Rivera Honeymoon
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Beneath the trees I lounged at ease
And watched them speed the pace;
They swerved and swung, they clutched and clung,
They leapt in roaring chase;
The crowd was thrilled, a chap was killed:
It was a splendid race.
Two men, they say, went West that day,
But I knew only one;
Geranium-red his blood was spread
And blazoned in the sun;
A lighting crash . . . Lo! in a flash
His racing days were done.
I did not see - such sights to me
Appallingly are grim;
But for a girl of sunny curl
I would not mention him,
That English lad with grin so glad,
And racing togs so trim.
His motor bike was painted like
A postal box of ed.
'Twas gay to view . . . "We bought it new,"
A voice beside me said.
"Our little bit we blew on it
The day that we were wed.
"We took a chance: through sunny France
We flashed with flaunting power.
With happy smiles a hundred miles
Or more we made an hour.
Like flame we hurled into a world
A-foam with fruit and flower.
"Our means were small; we risked them all
This famous race to win,
So we can take a shop and make
Our bread - one must begin.
We're not afraid; Jack has his trade:
He's bright as brassy pin.
"Hark! Here they come; uphill they hum;
My lad has second place;
They swing, they roar, they pass once more,
Now Jack sprints up the pace.
They're whizzing past . . . At last, at last
He leads - he'll win the race.
Another round . . . They leap, they bound,
But - where O where is he?"
And then the girl with sunny curl
Turned chalk-faced unto me,
Within her eyes a wild surmise
It was not good to see.
They say like thunder-bold he crashed
Into a wall of stone;
To bloody muck his face was mashed,
He died without a moan;
In borrowed black the girl went back
To London Town alone.
Beneath the trees I longed at ease
And saw them pep the pace;
They swerved and swung, they clutched and clung
And roaring was the chase:
Two men, they say, were croaked that day -
It was a glorious race.
Scheme | abCbxb defexe ghihxh xfxfxf xjxjxj xkxkxk xbxbxb xgigxg lmlmxm abCbdb |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Etheree (30%) |
Metre | 01011111 011101 11011101 110101 01110111 110101 11111111 111101 010011111 01001 01011001 110101 11111111 010011 11011101 111101 11011111 010111 11011101 010111 11111111 010111 101011111 011101 11011101 1111010 11010101 1111110 11110101 0111010 101011111 110111 11110101 1011101 11011111 111101 11111111 111101 11111111 111101 11011111 111101 01011111 111111 01011101 111101 01010101 111111 11110111 010111 11011111 110101 0110111 110101 01011111 011101 11011101 010101 11110111 1101001 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,866 |
Words | 376 |
Sentences | 32 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 24 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 144 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 38 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:53 min read
- 91 Views
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"Rivera Honeymoon" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/32406/rivera-honeymoon>.
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